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June 26, 2017

Just want to check in with the fam here in still early summer. We all need the time off, but it's wise to keep to mindful of things like summer reading book and math packets that are due in mid-August.

Before you jump in, if you haven't already, here's a wonderful TED Talk for both Junior and parents that explains any interpersonal conflict that seems to emerge when the thought of "let's see you get some summer work completed" comes up:

Remember this talk for the next six years. It's shelf life guarantees freshness until graduation.

February 16, 2017

Mathcounts team members pose following their stellar second-place finish in last week's highly competitive West Tennessee Regional Mathcounts competition at Southwest Tennessee. The last year that the Owls placed in the medal category was 2014 when we won gold. This year marks a significant achievement. Congrats on a job well done.

Samy Paul, Forest Rudd, George Zhang, and Ryan Peng won the second place team award, therefore they received cool trophies.

October 18, 2016

No math homework turned in? No problem! Ms. McFarlin provides the daily opportunity for boys in this predicament to receive a Front of the Lunchline Pass, therefore expediting their cafeteria experience before dining with her in a quiet environment conducive for calm self reflection before their afternoon Homework Detention. Repeat visitors to Lunch Club have been few this quarter.

We do not want boys to accumulate a homework backlog, and we help the students stay on top of their reasonable workload with supportive measures tailored to encourage daily accountability toward the self-monitored culture MUS expects. In the Upper School, MUS students should have the personal discipline to execute daily assignments. In the Lower School, we help sharpen the necessary habits toward that end.

September 29, 2016

Wednesday afternoon, MUS hosted the Fall Start-Up Math competition. Seventh grader George Zhang finished in the top 10% of all MUS Upper and Lower School students combined, a remarkable feat! Today in assembly, he received his "attaboy award," a genuine MUS seat cushion sure to ease his body as he labors from behind his homework desk.

Seventh grader Ryan Peng joins his fellow mathletes for their regular lunchtime review sessions as the team practices for their competitions. Coach Murphy devotes significant man-hours out of regular class time in order to drill his minions into a lean, mean mathematics machine. As you can see, this is a real stressed-out bunch.

December 02, 2015

Step Three, discuss your answer. If correct, (good job, Benjamin Sklar!) Ms. Meredith McFarlin, Instructor in Mathematics and Math Lab Supervisor, offers a "Thumbs-up"; if incorrect, the student goes to the board, and classmates coach the one who got his answer wrong in order to help him correct his steps toward the right answer.

Ms. McFarlin sees herself as a facilitator in this process as the the boys learn to teach themselves.

In addition to Boot Camp, some students receive a Math Lab Mandate which requires them to attend Math Lab during their Study Hall period. "Accountability," offers Ms. McFarlin, alluding to the seventh tenant of the MUS Community Creed.

Observations from Ms.McFarlin:

"After grading the most recent test that I gave to my Algebra I class, I realized many boys needed additional practice outside of class. I divided the students into smaller focus groups based on mastery level (I used their test scores) and required each group to attend "Factoring Boot Camp" after school for an hour.

Factoring Boot Camp has run all week with four to five students each day. The students worked out problems in packets that progressively became more challenging, participated in white board races (pictured here), and taught their peers by working out problems on the main board.

When it comes to mastering the skill of factoring in Algebra, students need as much exposure to all sorts of factoring problems. I made this boot camp mandatory because the boys need the extra practice, discipline, and attention on this skill in order to be successful in math at MUS and beyond. Factoring is an essential skill."

November 17, 2015

Here is a great presentation from a Carnegie Mellon-led research team articulating the need for students to master understanding of fractions and long division for long-term success, including teachers respecting the best ways to teach to that end. The MUS Math department pointed us to this editorial.

We want to shore up and encourage our boys who expose their deficits in this area, therefore our #MathLabMandate increases a student's instruction time by as much as 100% in any given week as he substitutes Study Hall period for Math Lab as prescribed by his instructor. No outside tutor, no extra expense, Math Lab offers a great value to these boys when they meet us half-way, arriving in lab with a good frame of mind, ready to dig down toward a demonstrated improvement in their grasp of fractions and long division. We even substitute math problems and fractionsfor the Rules of Civility from time to time in support of greater fractions and long division understanding.

PITTSBURGH—From factory workers to Wall Street bankers, a reasonable proficiency in math is a crucial requirement for most well-paying jobs in a modern economy. Yet, over the past 30 years, mathematics achievement of U.S. high school students has remained stagnant — and significantly behind many other countries, including China, Japan, Finland, the Netherlands and Canada.

A research team led by Carnegie Mellon University's Robert Siegler has identified a major source of the gap - U. S. students' inadequate knowledge of fractions and division. Although fractions and division are taught in elementary school, even many college students have poor knowledge of them. The research team found that fifth graders' understanding of fractions and division predicted high school students' knowledge of algebra and overall math achievement, even after statistically controlling for parents' education and income and for the children's own age, gender, I.Q., reading comprehension, working memory, and knowledge of whole number addition, subtraction and multiplication. Published in Psychological Science, the findings demonstrate an immediate need to improve teaching and learning of fractions and division.

"We suspected that early knowledge in these areas was absolutely crucial to later learning of more advanced mathematics, but did not have any evidence until now," said Siegler, the Teresa Heinz Professor of Cognitive Psychology at Carnegie Mellon. "The clear message is that we need to improve instruction in long division and fractions, which will require helping teachers to gain a deeper understanding of the concepts that underlie these mathematical operations. At present, many teachers lack this understanding. Because mastery of fractions, ratios and proportions is necessary in a high percentage of contemporary occupations, we need to start making these improvements now."

June 15, 2015

If you have questions about what your son should attack with these lovely offerings, select the grade level into which he is rising.

We highly suggest that parents both create and oversee a schedule that encourages the lads to approach these tasks with a deliberate plan rather than the, "O, man...it's August!" reaction panic. We then ask parents to verify that said schedule has, indeed, been executed. Trust and verify.

While avoidance and cramming may be a plan for some, it is a plan to fail. We want these lessons to be an encouragement and a skills-sharpening exercise, therefore some measured work throughout the summer is prescribed.